Tuesday, 24 January 2017

Sear Bliss - Grand Destiny

SEAR BLISS - Grand Destiny (RED STREAM - CD 2002)

Sear Bliss is surely one of my
favourite black metal bands when speaking of countries like Poland, Hungary of
Czech Republic. They did so many fantastic albums and more so, they managed to
create their own style, to become extraordinary and exceptional band. “Grand
Destiny” is their third full length album. And I have to say that I was a bit
worried before I heard it for the first time back in 2002. And that’s because
their previous two albums were a rollercoaster for me. I absolutely loved
“Phantoms”, with great combination of raw black metal and atmospheric,
monumental parts, strongly enhanced by the brass section. Every song on this
album turned out to be superb. But later “The Haunting” came and that album on
the other hand disappointed me. I felt like the music became a bit too soft, I
didn’t like how the keyboards sounded there and even the trumpets did not help.
Generally I think that the songs on Sear Bliss second full length were just not
that good and that’s because this album is fairly mediocre and forgettable. So,
this is why I was a bit worried before “Grand Destiny” arrived. But damn, this
album turned out to be just awesome and actually it belongs to Sear Bliss’ best
releases. So, it’s a great return to form.

Basically Sear Bliss kept all
the most valuable ingredients for their music, which I liked so much on the
debut album. And luckily they avoided sounding a bit too soft like they did on
“The Haunting”. So, it’s a perfectly balanced atmospheric black metal, with
some exceptional monumental parts, with a lot of additional brass section and
great harsh, but clean and powerful sound. Damn, the way this albums starts,
with “The World Beyond”, is something you would not expect, because this is
fast, very raw sounding, cold black metal that you would not necessarily expect
to hear from Sear Bliss, especially after “The Haunting” album. But damn, what
a stunning opener, what a vicious and aggressive opening song! It can only
promise that “Grand Destiny” will be a great improvement. And it is. Next song is
“Death in Torment” and again I am impressed! These first riffs in it, with
great addition of trumpet and keyboard sound just fantastic and I love how the
atmosphere is being created in the whole song, finished with a nice acoustic
theme. And then what? Another fast motherfucker with some exceptional parts – this is “Ars
Idiolatriae”. I can easily say that these three songs are enough to give an
opinion that “Grand Destiny” is not only an album that exceeds everything Sear
Bliss did on the previous full length, but even their fantastic debut can have
sometimes difficulties to match that quality.

More so, it seems like “Grand
Destiny” belongs to the harshest sounding Sear Bliss albums. The production on
it is quite clear, but with that raw, black metal touch what makes it sound so
damn good, a bit like Gehenna did on “Malice” maybe. As always Sear Bliss
astonishes, for having a great ability to compose interesting and incredibly
well arranged songs. Every part of “Grand Destiny”, from start to finish, is
excellent and so the whole album has no downs, no fillers, no weak points. It is
very damn close to perfection and for sure it is one of the best black metal
albums from the early 00’s.